Kapil Chopra is now compensated with credits, and gets twice the amount he had asked for

Script writer Kapil Chopra is a relieved man. The young writer had dragged the Bhatts to court a few months ago for allegedly stealing his script and making Jannat 2 based on his concept. Chopra has finally got his due as a court found that the story of Bhatt camp’s production Jannat 2 starring Emraan Hashmi, Randeep Hooda and Esha Gupta was similar to a script Kapil had written a year ago.

The writer had demanded that the makers should pay him Rs 10 lakh and give him due credit as the film’s writer. The Bhatts had defended their stand, but now after the court’s hearing, the makers have coughed up double the amount, Rs 20 lakh, and also have attributed him as the writer of the film. The film was released on May 4, so Kapil could not be given credit in the theatrical screenings. But now that the verdict is out, Kapil Chopra was duly credited when the film was screened on television this Sunday.

A newbie writer accuses Mahesh Bhatt and company of stealing his script. But is it true?

Why is it that just before the release of a film, controversies related to it come out of the closet? The most recent examples of this are films like The Dirty Picture and Jodi Breakers. This time around, it’s Vishesh Films’ much-talked about Emraan Hashmi-Esha Gupta-starrer, Jannat 2 in question. A newbie writer, Kapil Chopra has accused the producers of the film of plagiarising his script.

According to a newspaper, Chopra had filed a case against the Bhatts for copying his story and using it to make the Jannat sequel. The writer claims that he had registered his story with the Film Writers Association in 2007. He also says that he clearly remembers sharing the script with director Kunal Deshmukh. It seems he had also left the bound script at the Bhatt office for their perusal (no smart man would do that, right?). Chopra further alleges that some of his scenes were also used in other Bhatt films like Murder 2 and Blood Money. The hearing of the case took place yesterday.

So, is the Jannat 2 story really plagiarised? The Bhatts are known for lifting ideas and scenes from Hollywood movies, and Mahesh Bhatt doesn’t make any qualms about it. But this time they have been accused of plagiarising a newcomer’s script! While copying someone else’s work is not uncommon in the film industry, we wonder if a production house as successful as Vishesh Films would take the risk of doing it, and that too, repeatedly. What do you think?